The Chemportal

I've been drinking Bud Light as well as Michelob Ultra for the past year or so and there was something to both of them - in particular the Michelob Ultra - that made me sick.  Recently bought some Corona light and that "sickening aspect" is gone - it seems so untainted as compared to these other beers.



Some of you may have witnessed the commercial by Samuel Adams Lager and their claim that clear bottles - such as those of Corona - cause skunky beer.  Corona, however, packs their beers in boxes.  Some of these "brown bottle" companies also use modified hops to treat the skunkiness issues.  It seems that in my case it is these hops that are responsible for the sickening factor.

Recent endeavors for skunky beer involve bottling beer in plastic bottles - from my experience plastics of any kind and ethanol are definitely not a good mix.

Some links related to this matter:

Skunky Beer in a Whole New Light

http://research.unc.edu/endeavors/win2002/beer.htm

Radioisotope Investigation of the Effect of Sunlight on Beer

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v205/n4966/abs/205075a0.html

A recent episode of South Park that I viewed on http://www.southparkstudios.com (episode Tonsil Trouble) reminds me of just how much money has been used for AIDS research.  Kary Mullis who is the winner of the Nobel Prize for inventing PCR suggests that it is not HIV that causes AIDS despite the fact that he has not conducted research on this subject himself (at least not that I know of).  So countless amounts has been invested in AIDS research and not much has been discovered. 

Perhaps we need better talent in AIDS research.  All of these institutions and all of these scientists being paid handsomely to delude themselves in luxury and prominence yet there is no cure - is there a true interest in AIDS research out there?

Or

AIDS will always exist as long as there exists a behavioral phenomena similar in fashion with the Black Plague which was cured not by the respect of GOD but rather by simple improvement in hygiene.  AIDS can theoretically be eradicated completely if people would simply have some respect for it and fully acknowledge its existence.    This statement is fully evidenced by the lifestyle of those of us who have AIDS and those that are free of it.

However, molecules such as HIV are not real to the layman-many Africans for example for whom this disease means genocide-and even to some scientists as mentioned Kary Mullis.  

Can AIDS be eradicated without improvements in behavior relative to what it is today ?

Just got several webcast invitations from the ACS- the HPLC session interested me yet how much was it?  $30 , $100? No a $1000 for a webcast!